


Just When I Thought It Couldn't Get Weirder

by KealynLynnette



Series: Just An Ordinary League of Master Minds [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Self-Instertion, Tumblr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2013-12-16
Packaged: 2017-11-25 08:24:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/636967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KealynLynnette/pseuds/KealynLynnette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marie wakes up one day to find herself in a strange room, hearing disembodied voices, and answering to a stranger's name. And it's not as strange as it should've been. And that was strange enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> This is a major works in progress piece, so the archive warnings might change as I add in new chapters.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> illconsultmybooks asked: how so you think you would do is you suddenly woke up as an Avenger and knew all their knowledge but could still remember your “old” life? tell me a story about that please?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically just a prompt that got away from me.
> 
> Meet Anethea Stilinski, the newest Avenger.  
> Old name: Marie P.  
> Superhero name: Snake Charmer  
> Power: "Your power is that you can talk people into doing whatever you want, your voice is irresistible: your backstory is that you’re the descendant of the last living siren. Also, you’re really sarcastic all the time."  
> Nickname: Princess Charming (she's the youngest of the group, so gets teased constantly.)

The alarm screeched out suddenly from the bedside table, the song-of-the-week blasting from the cellphones single speaker.

Seriously. What right did such a tiny device have to be so fucking loud?

A hand snaked out from under the nest of blankets, snatched up the phone and switched off the alarm, only to return quickly to it's warm cocoon.

For a moment, nothing moved. The room was dark, silent, warm; it was the absolute perfect place to continue sleeping.

A groan suddenly broke the silence. The blankets were removed to show a small figure in their midst. A pair of feet found their way onto the carpet. Yawning, bleary-eyed and not-quite-awake-yet, the young girl walked across the room to turn on her lights.

And kept walking.

And walking.

And walking.

Until her hand met something that was definitely NOT her simple and old, twist-knob light switch. 

Before she could start panicking (her carpet was definitely not that soft, that was way too many pillows and blankets on her bed, her stuffed animal was nowhere in sight, her-), an voice filled the room from, somewhere. 

_"Good morning Ms. Stilinski. Would you like your lights at your morning setting now?"_

The shock made her fall flat on her ass, eyes wide as she scrambled to press her back against the nearest wall.

There was a pause and then.

_"Is everything alright?"_

The voice sounded sincere, and other than the obviously strange room and talking disembodied voice, there was no immediate danger. 

Anethea's heart rate slowly returned to safe levels and the voice let her gather herself.

"I- believe I'm fine, thanks. But um-" A name suddenly popped into the forefront of her brain. "Jarvis." How did she-? "Could you turn the lights on now?"

_"Certainly Princess."_

Princess? Oooh she was so gonna get Stark for that one.

Wait. What?

The lights came on slowly enough that it didn't hurt her eyes after staring into the darkness for who-knows-how-long. There was a massive bed by the far wall, with multitudes of posters spanning every available space. There were hampers and some dressers, bookshelves, a desk with a computer. It was big, but not imposing. It was lived in, and it was achingly familiar. For a while there, Anethea's head hurt, her brain superimposing the sight of her old bedroom on top of this one. 

When did this become her 'new' bedroom?

Anethea took a few deep breaths, shook her head and stood up, brushing imaginary dust off her pants before exploring. Her feet automatically took her to where she knew the closet was. The girl touched the fabrics softly, wonderingly, and knew, just knew, that all these clothes were hers. Even this dress, Anethea knew at the back of her mind that she had just bought this last week, at the mall only 15 minutes away from here, at a store tucked in the corner near the back. 

But at the same time, she knew that last week she had been 'studying' for semester finals, all her teachers rushing to cram as much information as possible in the few days before tests. 

Then there was the name. Stilinski. That was Stile's name not hers! Her's was... Marie. Marie C. P-N. She walked to the mirror, half-dreading and half-knowing, to see her reflection. It was relief that filled her when it was her face that stared back at her, both Marie and Anethea at the same time, somehow. Like it was superimposed again, but it wasn't, because it was the same face.

And she knew, just like Jarvis and the closet and the mirror, that it wasn't some twin or an illusion. 

She was both Marie and Anethea at the same time, just like the reflection told her. 

And... and Snake Charmer.

When that clicked, a rush of information seemed to break from a dam, leaving Anethea reeling and lightheaded. Bruce and Tony would be in the lab right now, if the position of the sun outside the massive window told her anything (and it did). Thor would probably be in the gym. Clint would be watching television in the living room and Natasha... Natasha would be on her way here soon to wake her up. 

Suddenly, thoughts of her parents, exams and that damned Japanese essay she still had to write flew out the window. 

With practiced ease that still rattled her deep inside, Anethea stood and pretended to do morning stretches just in time for her door to slam open and the beautiful red-head known as Natasha Romanoff entered her room. 

It was with a slightly-startled smile that Natasha said, "Oh hey Princess, you're awake." She smirked. "Finally."

There was that damned bastardization of her super-awesome superhero name again. Anethea opened her mouth to retort back before closing it again, raising a hand and shuffling towards her desk. After she had her mouthpiece on, Anethea snarked back. "You're the ones who spoil me so rotten that I have no choice but to sleep in past noon!"

Then she smiled. 

"But now that you're here, you can help me pick out what to wear today!"

Natasha groaned and barely restrained from slapping her hand against her head. But there was still a corner of her mouth that gave a slight upwards tick. It was a small sign, but one Anethea was trained to catch.

The older woman sighed dramatically. "Okay fine you brat. But lets get you some food first okay?" She gestured towards the door and smirked again. "Princesses first."

Anethea was barely able to restrain the "okay mom" comeback and the tip of her tongue, but could not help the slight grimace at the wretched nickname. She marched sullenly past Natasha towards the door, ready for some crepes and blended chocolate milk (her absolute favorite), when she noticed movement from the corner of her eye.

She ducked instinctively, shifting her weight and sweeping her feet at her attacker. Natasha avoided her attack. Anethea righted herself and moved into a defense stance, facing her opponent with feet shoulder-width apart, arms by her side, bent and slightly in from, her hands in loose fists. The movements were so ingrained and automatic that it just added to the whole surreality of the afternoon.

Natasha looked pleased, however. Anethea frowned slightly. "Did I pass you test? Can I go eat now?" Her friend laughed and nodded, swinging an arm around and drawing the teen out of her stance. "I guess so."

They started back towards the door, when Anethea suddenly found herself breathless, staring at the ceiling, arms pinned above her head and a heavy weight pressing into her stomach. "You should remember not to let your guard around anyone Thea. I could get you killed." 

Anethea willed the blush she knew was forming to go away. Hopefully Natasha would take is as embarrassment at being tricked instead of the attracting she was feeling right now. To distract both of then, she whined loudly, bucking her hips in an a futile attempt to free herself. "You said that we could get breakfast now!"

The redhead pressed her tighter to the floor to halt her movements. She leaned down to whisper, "You didn't win the spar, so you should've known better."

It was then, in that awkwardly semi-arousing position, that Tony motherfucking Stark made himself known at the doorway. 

"Well, I don't want to interrupt anything here, because seriously do go on, but I was thinking that it's pasts the Princess's feeding time and was curious to see what the hold up was."

He was smirking. Of course he has. Anethea let her head thunk back on the floor just as Natasha pulled herself away. Everything was a lot easier when she didn't have super-hot superheros to deal with. Maybe she'd actually do her school work then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want more info for x-reason, you can go [here](http://leagueverse.tumblr.com).
> 
> My tumblr is this [one](http://macapan.tumblr.com):
> 
> [Crossposted](http://leagueverse.tumblr.com/post/65769985117) from tumblr.


	2. How It All Started

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S.H.I.E.L.D takes matters into their own hands, but perhaps they should have thought things out better.
> 
> OR
> 
> It was more or less a normal day, if birthdays could ever be just a ‘normal’ day. It didn't end normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think of the first chapter as an 'unaired' pilot. The story technically starts with this piece.

It was more or less a normal day, if birthdays could ever be just a ‘normal' day. Marie woke up slightly earlier than usual, and less grumpy than was normal. Not only was it a Friday (and Fridays are always cause for celebrations, along with Wednesdays, but whatever), but it was her 18th birthday. It was super-extra special. Her birthdays _never_ landed on a good day. Why did she have to be born on a Wednesday?

Just because she was in a better mood this morning didn't mean she was any more coherent.

Somehow, she knew it would be an amazing day.

Yeah so, her throat was a little sore, her teeth felt weird in her mouth, and her lips stretched weirdly on her face. But her body felt great, her face seemed to glow, her hair was amazing this morning and her outfit was fantastic.

Her dad even stopped bugging her to wake up after she asked the first time (that was a miracle in and of itself!). When she asked for crepes and blended chocolate milk for breakfast, it was done without even a little bit of grumbling and when she asked him to park closer to the bus, he did.

Wow. Her father really wanted to spoil her today didn't he?

Marie even got her favorite seat on the bus when she sighed and grumbled a bit. Dude, the kid just got up and moved. It was kind of strange, but the teen wasn't complaining.

But then the day got weirder. Not bad but it was definitely strange.

No one argued with her. Literally, no one ever gave a dissenting opinion to her face, seemingly agreeing with her on everything. Even her friends on the smallest of things! She got extra food, warm hugs, lots of laughs and, sometimes, slightly dazed looks. Was she that good-looking today or something? Or maybe she kept slipping into Spanish without noticing. That was a more probably answer.

The straw that broke the proverbial camel's back, however, was probably Japanese class. Habit dictated that everyone always jokingly complained to sensei about not doing this and not doing that. Sensei never, ever, _ever_ listened to them.

But...

"Senseeeeeei." Marie whined softly, pouting in the direction of her teacher. "Do we really _have_ to take a quiz today? Its my birthday, I don't want to take a quiz on my birthday. Why don't we just move it to next week or something?"

And she did.

Sensei _never_ did.

What the fuck was going on?

—-

Marie decided to experiment with little things throughout the rest of the day. She'd ask for little ridiculous things, testing out limits and people and wordings and whatnot.

This, whatever it was (she was hesitant to call it a power, cool things like that never happened to high schoolers), didn't seem to have a limit or rules. She could even think really, really hard about something, focus and BAM! Wish granted.

She could get used to this, after the weird factor faded.

Conversation between her and her father flowed when he picked her up from the bus stop after school. It was a short ride from here to their house, 5 or so minutes on a good day. But Marie had been focusing on catching anything strange or weird happening around her today. She immediately noticed the severely reduced amount of traffic in the streets. It made her nervous, somehow.

It made her-

"HOLY FUCKING CRAP!"

A car swerved into their side, almost forcing her dad off the road. The move shoved her into the car door, jarring her shoulder and tightening the seatbelt almost painfully against her chest. Another car came at them form their other side, and the force knocked the air out of her lungs. It was like they were suddenly in a play-through of GTA, her dad doing everything possible to keep them from rolling over or crashing into a post or house. Then a car just drives right in front of them and stops, forcing them to make a sudden, painful stop. Her dad immediately started to check her over, and her likewise. But they didn't get to comfort each other for long. There were people coming out of their cars, closer to them. Maybe they were going to see if they were injured or needed medical help.

But her car door was yanked, and the grip on her arms was painful. The look on her dad's face was painful to see, a look of horror, pain and absolute terror, his hand outstretched as he tried to fight off the people holding him back. She tried screaming, telling them to _'please, stop, don't do this, go away'_ , hoping that maybe her new-found skill would come into actual use, but there was a hand in her mouth, something sweet-smelling filling her nose.

She fought it out, kicking out her arms and legs, trying to get free, but between one move and the next, Marie felt her body go limp and her vision fade.

Worst fucking birthday, ever.

—-

Marie woke up sitting on a desk chair and slumped into her arms in front of her. She was groggy, and it wasn't the most uncomfortable of positions, but as her senses slowly returned to her, so did the stress and tension of her situation. The teen remembered the abduction, her father's face, the kidnappers.

Fuck. Shit like this isn't supposed to happen.

She tried to remember everything she learned in movies. The girl stood up, pressing her back against the nearest wall, not feeling comfortable sitting in the middle of the room, all exposed. She tried calming herself, attempting to take beep breaths through her mouth and out her nose. All it did was send her into a bigger panic, reaching up to touch something on her face, hands pull at a metal gag wrapped around her mouth and lower jaw. Her breathing was restricted, though still an option. That didn't calm her racing heart.

She whimpered.

There were footsteps coming towards the door (she was so freaked out she didn't even notice it). Marie had to think and act quickly if she wanted a chance to escape. She moved towards the corner next to the door and prepared herself.

The door opened, and without even completely thinking this through, Marie squared her shoulders and tackled (tried-to) the man at the entrance. She must have caught him off guard, since he was at least twice her size, but she was able to push him to the ground and out of the way. There were two more guards standing at the entrance, one of the already lunging at her. She ducked on instinct, and the bodyguard missed and rolled over her back. The other stood his ground, but adrenalin and fear coursed through her body. Taking a chance, she just dived between his legs, turned onto her back and kicked out the back of his knees. Without even pausing to check if it worked, she was already scrambling back unto her hands and feet, sprinting down the hallway.

As she ducked through corridor and hallway, into alcoves and crannies, an internal mantra played through Marie's head, ‘please don't get caught please don't get caught', wishing harder than she did when she was experimenting. Her luck, power, whatever, stayed true.

Hopefully, she was going the right way. Out.

It was now that she thanked whatever gods were out there for all those hours playing Assassin's Creed and Bioshock, stealth missions that let her figure out small things to do to avoid being found out.

Like in this hallway, for example. It lacked any personnel walking around, amazingly, and was equipped with a single camera in the middle. Even better, it was the type of camera that moved from one end of the hallway to the other, giving her time to sneak across the wall without being spotted. But then voices sounded out from the end she was walking towards. Crap. Marie ducked into a door before the people turned the corner, and inside the room was dark, small and cramped.

And stuffed with things like...

Fuck yes she found a uniform closet.

She waited until she couldn't hear anyone outside anymore before moving into action. Marie figured that this was no time to be even remotely self-conscious about her body, and consequently stripped herself of her birthday outfit, leaving herself barefoot (though she had already abandoned the heels a long time ago) and slightly cold. Her eyes adjusted fairly quick, so she rifled through the hanging uniforms until one of them wouldn't be outrageously huge on her.

With the new outfit on, Marie let herself sink down on the floor and press her head to her knees. She could do this. She could get out of this horrible situation. She would not be a victim to crazy, ridiculously rich kidnappers.

Though she wasn't very comforted, the teen knew it was time to move on.

Once more she waited till the camera wouldn't see her and ran down the corridor. This place was a labyrinth, and it would be a miracle if she ever found her way out. Luckily, she's been full of those so far, so what's one more?

There was a few close calls. There seemed to be hundreds of workers walking to and fro here, though most of them didn't pay her much attention. Perhaps an emergency hadn't been called yet. Good. Marie got lost a few times, of course she would this place was huge. She almost walked into what looked light a giant deck, hundreds of people working on computers on a lower level. Marie quickly, calmly, walked away from that, but instead walked past a very brightly lit laboratory-looking room. There were several people inside, talking or working. She accidentally made eye contact with one of them, and she didn't break her gaze away until the man narrowed his eyes in thought at her. Before letting him get a good look at her, he already probably saw the gag and could make the simple deductions from that, she speed walked away from there, breaking into a sprint at the first stretch of empty walkway.

And there it was. The emergency arrows pointing to a wonderfully, glorious door with the proud sigil of EXIT.

Marie wasted no time whatsoever pushing that door open and stepping outside. Or at least she would have. Except now she found herself hanging on to the door frame for her life, scream of terror muffled under the metal piece as she stared at the sight in front of her.

Blue. Sky blue. Gorgeous, beautiful, terrifying blue that could only be the sky. Clouds. Everywhere. There seemed to be no where to step. Just light blue sky everywhere. If she had tried to walk out there-

Her knees gave out.

But then someone was grabbing her by the waist, hauling her away from the open door (the sky! They were up in the fucking _sky!_ ) and slamming it shut. Marie was spun around, but she was limp. The fight had left her. The only thing keeping her upright were the hands gripping her shoulder tightly. Her head lulled against her chest, and her ears registered someone trying to talk to her. But it was like she was underwater. She couldn't see. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't here. She couldn't-

Her head was jerked up by a hand on her jaw, eyes (those same eyes from earlier) locking onto hers. He was frowning, and still talking. But now she was just tired. Tired, exhausted, terrified and sad. Her poor dad. Mom, dad, brother.

A single sob tried to escape, and failed. So she just gave up and let herself just pass out on top of the strange man.

Hey, he did save her from imminent doom, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want more info for x-reason, you can go [here](http://leagueverse.tumblr.com).
> 
> My tumblr is this [one](http://macapan.tumblr.com).
> 
> [Crossposted](http://leagueverse.tumblr.com/post/65770562292/) from tumblr.


	3. Episode 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Anethea Stilinski.

The man turned out to be Tony Stark.

As in Tony Stark, President and CEO of Stark Industries.

THE Tony Stark.

Tony-motherfucking-Stark.

Right now, Marie was sitting alone at a conference table in a private room of the ship (Helicarrier, her mind provided). Mostly private, anyways. There were windows lining two of the walls in front of her. Through them she could see Stark and several others yelling at a stony faced black man (was that Nick Fury?!). No one out there seemed to be particularly happy with her presence. The teen curled into herself with a sigh, bowing her head and pulling her knees to her chest. There wasn't much use trying to read their lips, and there was definitely no sound passing through those windows.

She didn't know much of what happened when she passed out, only coming to when she was lowered (rather gently, actually) by a giant, muscular blond. He had smiled and had looked ready to start a conversation with her. Someone had grabbed him, however, and motioned him outside. A fierce-looking redhead had told her to wait quietly and left after her teammates. Like Marie could be anything other than quiet right then.

But it had been a long wait, and it wasn't really a pleasant one.

Marie didn't look up when the doors slid open and shut in front of here. Or when someone sat in the chair beside her.

She did straighten a little when a mug of steaming _something_ was put in front of her on the table. Food was a girl's best friend, of course.

"I figured you might want something to calm your nerves." The man stated quietly.

Marie turned her head completely to study him, and found him looking right back at her. He looked nice, relaxed. There was a hint of gray in his hair, though he didn't really seem to be that old physically. Strong jaw, stubble; handsome and kind. He was smiling calmly at her, studying her as much as she had been doing to him.

Marie wondered what he saw.

She was immediately suspicious.

Marie levered a small glare at him, moving her arms away from where they had been hiding the lower half of her head to increase it's effectiveness. Sadly, the glare had no effect other than confusing him. Hm, perhaps more Dean and less Castiel would work better in the future.

She broke the glare with a roll of her eyes, casting it aside as a futile effort. Instead the girl gestured to the cup, then to her still covered mouth, and gave another pointed stare at the man.

His reaction was swift and forceful. The man frowned harshly, his shoulders stiffening and one hand clenching against his thigh. Marie leaned back away from him instinctively, but gave no other visible reaction.

"I thought they had taken that off you already." Damn, he sounded pissed.

Marie shrugged.

"We weren't allowed to Bruce." A voice called out from the entrance. "Don't think we didn't ask."

That was yet another man... oh fuck.

"Fury here has the key and won't hand it over, even under the threat of mutiny."

No. Not it couldn't be. Things like this didn't happen!

"Keeping _that_ is for the best, I assure you. Trust me on this."

Marie's eyes flickered from person to person, unable to decide who to stare at first, fitting bodies and faces to images on television and internet. Fuck no. What?

"You haven't exactly told us why!"

"That's because you haven't let me say a single valuable word in this discussion."

The bickering continued, but Marie just continued freaking out quietly in her seat.

_What the fuck did the Avengers want with her?!_

She knew she was near to having her very own first full-blown panic attack. Her breathing was labored, coming in short huffs as fast as she could through her nose, her chest was aching and her hands and shoulder had minute trembles coursing through them, she was lightheaded.

Then there was a hand gently pressing into her shoulder, warm and anchoring, bring some of her focus back to the present. A hard voice called out from above her.

" _Stop fighting and be quiet!"_

Everyone stopped and turned their attention to Bruce.

"Thank you." Bruce squeezed Marie's shoulder comfortingly. "All this arguing isn't doing anyone any good, and our guest isn't feeling so well right now. So if you all would please stop yelling while I calm her down?" He almost made it sound like a request, but no one even considered refusing it.

That shifted everyone's attention down to her, though. Marie stiffened, and her chest tightened again.

Then she was being turned around and a warm hand on her cheek forced her to look up at Bruce. "You need to breathe Marie. Can you do that for me?"

It should be simple. Breathing was an autonomous task that the body took care of without conscious request of the brain. Marie could totally do this. Totally. Just... Just...

"Breathe!"

The volume and suddenness (was it sudden? She couldn't remember) of the request forced a sharp intake of breath to make its way down into her lungs.

"Okay now hold it okay? Can you do that?"

She tried, oh god she tried but something forced her to expel it almost as soon as his sentence was done.

"It's okay. Just." The hand that had stayed on her shoulder moved down to untangle her own hand from where it was gripping her side painfully tight. Bruce moved her hand and placed it on his own chest, ignoring when it immediately curled into his shirt. His hand stayed on top of hers.

"Follow the rhythm of my breaths. Ready. In-one two, hold-three four, out-five six. Seven eight, hold, nine ten. Good. Again."

The attack abated after a few more minutes of steady breathing, signaled by the girl just crumpling back into herself and her chair. She was just so tired now.

There were a few more minutes of heavy silence.

"Right." Fury moved to the front of the room, which coincidentally (or not) out him right in front of where Marie and Bruce sat together. "Let's get the meeting started now."

—-

"You kidnapped a kid Fury! There's no other way to say it. You gave her a fucking panic attack!"

It seemed that Stark was currently her biggest supporter. (Bruce shifted beside her, making her rethink that. But he was definitely the most vocal.)

"Man of Iron is right. You cannot forcibly remove children from their homes!"

It was pretty nice, everyone seemed very upset (and vocal) on her behalf. Marie still wished they would actually decide something or at least remove the gag. Marie was really just ready to fall asleep. The previous adrenaline crash and panic attack hadn't really been dealt with, and she was really feeling it now.

Fury finally, _finally_ managed to get through enough to bring some order.

"If that girl asked you to stop off the helicarrier with a smile on your face, it would take at least 50 operatives to keep you from doing it."

The Avengers went silent at that.

Marie stared hard at Director Fury.

"If she asked someone to invent a new element and name it after her, they would probably spend the rest of their life trying and possibly become insane if they failed."

Fury glared hard at each of them in turn.

"If she asked me to reveal every secret, every fact, every detail of S.H.I.E.L.D and its allies, I would do everything in my power to get her that information."

The Director sat down in the chair closest to him, putting him level or under the rest of the team. It was a ploy, that much was easy to see, but it seemed to work.

"As you can see, at this point in time there is no way that Ms. Perez can be allowed to speak freely in public."

The girl in question just crossed her arms and slumped her shoulders.

Stark moved to stand next to her. In his hand he had some sort of tablet, the type that she would drool and dream over but knew was way out of her price-range.

Marie just glared up at him.

He smirked. "Well, I was going to try to help you communicate, but if you're going to just give me attitude..."

Someone behind him choked back a laugh, though tried to hide it behind a cough.

It caught her attention though and that didn't escape Stark's notice. He looked smug as he handed her the small computer (Marie just assumed that it was his default expression). "Its a simple text-to-speech program. Just tap here and the computer will read out loud whatever you wrote."

Elation filled her chest. Marie carefully snatched it from his hand and almost set out to start typing out every single thing she wanted them to know.

Then she glanced up at Stark, who stayed standing beside her, then at the adults around her, who looked expectant. The teen smirked.

She placed the tablet in front of her, then, using her pointer fingers, started typing. She forced as much fake concentration as she could manage, even going as far as sticking her tongue out a bit.

It was slow going, having to "look for" the letters that she wanted.

Stark looked like he was about to have an aneurism.

Bruce looked confused but a bit amused.

Captain America looked sympathetic.

Everyone else looked impatient.

Marie kept her face as serious as she could, and then clicked ‘say'.

" _Hello."_

Stark's expression broke her. She let out peals of laughter behind the gag, throwing her head back and shaking with the force. Right when she almost collected herself, she looked up to see Stark holding the tablet protectively to his chest and glaring at her.

She broke again, this time curling into herself as the laughter began to hurt her stomach. Tears were streaming down her face, and the half-incredulous half-amused expressions around her coupled with the twinges of laughter-pain made it nearly impossible to stop laughing.

It wasn't even that funny!

That made it even more hilarious.

When Marie finally took deep enough breaths to calm herself down, it still took all her willpower not to start cracking up all over again.

She reached out to take the tablet from Stark, who gave it to her almost warily. She flashed him a smile, then typed on the communicator at her usual speed.

" _Sorry about that."_

" _I couldn't help it."_

" _I'm just so bored and the opportunity was there."_

" _Couldn't pass it up."_

A pause then:

" _Are we finally going to decide something now?"_

—-

Turns out she had a temporary room on the helicarrier. And it wasn't even a prisoner cell! It was a legit, single bedroom all for herself. There wasn't much to enjoy, really, but there had been a bed and that was enough for her.

It was the "awkward morning after" right now. Kind of. Marie hadn't exactly left her room yet, so there was no one to be awkward with. Just herself. Which was apparently enough.

She was safe, mostly. Fed, watered and rested. There was an extraordinary ~~chance~~ responsibility given to her. It was the thing of fantasies. But there was her parents and her brother. God they must be so worried. Her dad watched her being taken away! Her friends, did they even know she was missing? Fuck she missed her birthday too. Who knew what day it was today, Marie certainly didn't. Was there a police search going on maybe? But this was S.H.I.E.L.D, they could probably mislead the police whenever they wanted. What did everyone think happened? Damn. She just wanted to go home.

But... but she couldn't. She was too dangerous to be outside right now, be with people. Socializing could end up terribly. Marie didn't want to hurt anyone. Knew she wouldn't on purpose, of course, but she already was the "douchebag older brother" to her friends. One wrong word or phrase could end up in disaster. And they didn't even know the extent of her powers yet, didn't know if limits even existed.

Didn't know if it could be fixed.

Fury said she might have to start over. Kill Marie and take a new name. Said it'd be safer for all of the people she cared about.

Maybe someday...

But how could she?! She was only 18 years old, just starting. How could she just kill herself off. Never talk to her mother again, to any of her friends. Her clubs, her teachers, computer. Just. How?

Easy.

She didn't have any other choice.

Marie took out the tablet that Stark had lent her and started researching.

Name after name after name appeared on the screen. It was harder than she thought, picking out a whole new identity. Should she try to blend in? Stand out? Make herself memorable or just another girl? Maybe something obviously not her, something Asian or Nordic. Go with her roots and pick out something Spanish or French?

Choices, choices. Choices stressed her out.

To be Gabriella McCall for the rest of her life, a simple librarian-type full of shy smiles and a cute sweater, someone you meet and might forget the next week.

To be Anethea Stilinski for the rest of her life, strange and easy, a with a hidden sharp edge around her, confident but still kind and friendly and impossible to forget.

To be both, maybe, perhaps?

Pros, cons and everything in between.

She needed a superhero name too, she realized. Something cool, definitely. Seductress was way too out of her range, Whisperer was just... not cool to shout out to her enemies. Charmer? Charming? No, that was the prince.

So. Charmer. Like...

Perfect.

She walked out of that room later, her head held high and a new identity trailing behind her. She thrust the tablet into the hands of the closest Avenger (Clint), and crossed her arms.

_**Real Name:** Anethea Gabriella Stilinski_

_**Code Name:** Snake Charmer_

_**Powers:** Mind control (?)_

If her eyes were a little red, and her shoulders shaking a little, no one commented. Though Bruce did wrap his arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

Fury nodded at her, and gave his version of a smile. "Welcome to the Avenger's Initiative."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want more info for x-reason, you can go [here](http://www.leagueverse.tumblr.com).
> 
> My tumblr is this [one](http://www.macapan.tumblr.com).
> 
> [Crossposted](http://leagueverse.tumblr.com/post/65770579805) from tumblr.


	4. All The Things I Don't Know (About Myself)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Becoming a superhero was supposed to be fun, but Anethea's time in the Helicarrier was exactly the opposite.

Later that morning, after breakfast, Anethea was shuffled off by Special Agent Maria Hill to a rather comfortable debriefing room. They sat facing each other, Hill holding a gray folder and Anethea holding her text-to-speech tablet.

Agent Hill smiled at her as she placed the mysterious folder down on the table between them.

"All the information we have on you," Hill began, "can be found inside that folder."

Anethea stared intently down at the innocuous set of papers. It wasn't big, not by a long shot. There was maybe 3 or 4 pages of information in there. Is that really all SHIELD could come up with? The teen had imagined there'd be a lot more than that, especially since they were able to find and capture her so quickly. She picked up the file and started glancing through it. It was just basic things: report cards, test scores, home address and phone number, known associates and frequented locations around the city. But there was literally nothing in here to suggest she was a person of interest, other than a tiny little note explaining the immediate effects of her new power.

Finally, she set down the papers and stared intently at the agent in front of her.

Smiling wryly, Hill continued by answering her unspoken questions. "That really is all we have. At least at the moment. You're probably not going to be very happy to hear this, but the only reason we started contemplating collecting you was a hunch and a small lead from an enemy organization. All we had to work with on the day you were picked up was knowledge that one of our enemies was interested in someone in Las Vegas, and that people were doing every odd thing this little girl was asking them to do that day. Oh don't look at me like that Stilinski, we have eyes and ears everywhere."

The 'look' Hill was referring to was probably the increasingly angry stare Anethea was sending her direction. She gently set the tablet down on the table before curling up her fists and shoving them against her stomach. Her lips behind the metal gag were pulled harshly downwards, baring her teeth. Her breathing was labored.

That- that meagre, insignificant amount of information was all that they had to justify going down there and _abducting_ her from her life. A 'small lead' was enough for them to rip her away from her family, her friends, her _everything_ , just on the off-chance of- what exactly? This was just- It was-

Hill looked on impassively.

Oh but just how easy it would be to- how wonderful it would feel if she would just reach over and, ever so gently, drag her talons over that smooth, creamy neck-

Anethea let out a sharp gasp before shoving her face into the crook of her arms. She refused to look back at Agent Hill until she got herself under control. What was _wrong_ with her?

The older woman went back to talking after it was clear Anethea wouldn't be looking up anytime soon. "As you could see from the files, all we really know about your powers at this point is that your voice has the power to control the mind and wills of others. We are currently looking into the cause of your powers, ways of controlling it and methods of neutralization. With the resources SHIELD has, I assure you it won't take long."

All Anethea could do was nod.

Hill sighed, "I must warn you that powers like this always come with side effects of the source. You might start feeling strange urges or appetites or mood swings. Its completely unpredictable as to how they'll manifest, but they will. Watch out for anything strange and make sure to record anything you might feel pertinent to the investigation."

Anethea had yet to even glance at her again, head still shoved into her arms and breathing noticeably shallow. The agent stood up and nodded to herself. "Thank you for your time Ms. Stilinski. Feel free to look around anywhere that doesn't have a do-not-enter sign. Don't bother the people who are working. And stay out of trouble."

And with that, she left.

\- - -

Lunchtime turned out to be a lonely affair. Since the gag was designed not to let out any sort of sound from the wearer, it was simple enough to imagine that no type of food would either.

The lonely lunches became even weirder when Anethea noticed the difference in food choices she'd pick up from the cafeteria. Instead of creamy mash potatoes and juicy steak, her plate was covered in healthy pink fish and fruit-berry salads. She didn't dislike fish, but she hated berries with a passion. It was crazy to think she'd actually ordered this! But the cafeteria was far and Anethea was already seated comfortably in her room.

So she ate the fish.

Then with a craving she'd had absolutely never ever had, Anethea devoured the fruit-berry salad as easily as the fish fillets.

It was strange and unsettling, but satisfying.

She decided to forgo writing this down as "pertinent information".

\- - -

The DNA tests that were ordered hadn't given them any conclusive information as to the source of her powers. Anethea took that as saying that they had found something weird, but didn't want to tell her.

It had spurred a search into her genealogy, however, and that was research Anethea could get behind.

Until she was told to "butt out".

Not in those exact words of course, but it was made quite clear that she wasn't allowed to assist in any sort of way. It was ridiculous and completely unfair, but seeing as she lacked the ability to fully express her displeasure, Anethea stayed silent.

But she was itching to find out what they had discovered.

\- - -

Anethea normally had no problem staying comfortably enclosed in one room or space for long periods of time, but it was getting harder and harder to stay still. In the early days of the research, she had been content to just sit by the front window of the Helicarrier and just watch the clouds pass under her. Now, it was difficult to repress the aching feeling she had in her chest. And it showed: while sitting, her hands and feet would twitch or tap out nonsensical rhythms, her legs would shake and her head would constantly turn to relieve tension. After a few days, it got to the point where she couldn't stay sitting anymore. From then on Anethea would go on long, labyrinth walks inside the ship from dusk to dawn. (Or whatever was the equivalent inside a fortified flying fortress.)

There was another motivator for this change of habit, Anethea had become terrified of the sky. Terrified because every time she would look outside the window, a dangerous, heavy part of her was telling her to jump into that deep blue abyss.

Needless to say, Anethea stayed away from windows from now on.

(She also decided to leave that out of the"pertinent information" log; there was no need for them to think she was suicidal.)

\- - -

Fighting whatever crazy thing was inside her was becoming increasingly more exhausting every day. There was some things she didn't fight- her new food habits for example- but a lot of the new urges she experienced scared her out of her mind. Jumping out of the ship was the most extreme example, but there were other times when someone angered her and she wanted to claw her eyes out. Or when she saw an incredibly handsome agent and she desperately wanted to _drown him._ It was crazy and uncomfortable and she wanted it to be over.

SHIELD wasn't any help either. Apparently they still "hadn't found anything" (translation, we're being assholes and refusing to share information with you). Anethea was sure to go crazy before she learned anything about herself. She couldn't even find joy in the fact that she was in the same vicinity as the world-class superhero group Avengers! Keeping control of whatever-it-was took most of her concentration, will-power and good graces. Most of the time she didn't have the strength to socialize with them, and the other times they were busy.

It figured.

Well that wasn't totally true. At night, when wandering the halls of the Helicarrier was strictly forbidden and Anethea couldn't fall asleep, she would communicate via email with Stark and Banner. Since the hours were odd, they didn't always reply promptly, but it was still better than nothing. Both of them were really nice people and full of amazing information. It wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing.

\- - -

It hit the week and a half mark when Anethea finally just wasn't able to sleep anymore. There was a terrible constant ache inside her chest that was slowly spreading out into her entire body, mainly her head. It was hard to concentrate on anything, so she didn't. She stopped emailing her friends, she barely ate, and her walks were longer than ever.

She didn't know what was taking the SHIELD research team so long, but they better fucking hurry up.

Anethea had accidentally caught a glimpse of the sky after two days of no sleep, it was a beautiful bright blue with nary a cloud in sight but with the most gorgeous view of the ocean, and the only thing that kept her from going overboard was a passing agent that "escorted" her back to her room.

\- - -

She tried everything she could think of to relax herself into sleep, but nothing seemed to work. The- whatever- inside her was never comfortable enough to let them rest. The teenager laid in bed, exhausted, while her insides twisted and tugged and ached themselves until the sun rose.

That was the fifth night she'd gone without any sleep.

In all seriousness, the next thing Anethea was conscious of was sitting in Stark's lab chair, staring at nothing in particular. Stark and Dr. Banner were up and moving around, looking like they'd been in motion for at least several hours. There was a bowl of something warm on the table. She was more or less dressed appropriately. She should probably be in training at the moment.

Anethea stood up suddenly at the thought, then instantly regretted it when her head almost met the corner of the glass desk. The floor was a lot closer than it should be.

She raised her head and realized that Dr. Banner had managed to catch her in time. She looked up at him, opening her mouth to tell him that her superior officer Special Agent Cormack wouldn't be happy about her ditching a lesson. No sound came out. A small corner of her brain told her that she wasn't even wearing the gag. Dr. Banner smiled kindly at her and then shuffled her back into her seat. When she wasn't in any danger of falling out of her chair, he passed her the now-lukewarm bowl soup that had been on the desk. It was clam chowder. She started eating automatically, though her appetite was still non-existent. Stark decided that was a perfect time to talk at her with his most loud and obnoxious voice. (Anethea almost dropped her spoon.)

"You came into the lab three hours ago with a glazed look in your eyes. We had no choice but to bundle you up in the safety of the science lab! So Ane, you back into the living with us yet? You've barely moved or breathed in the last hours!"

The sleep deprived girl looked up and pinned large, slow-blinking eyes on the eccentric billionaire.

Dr. Banner was still by her side when he purposefully caught her attention. "What he means is- We've been doing a bit of our own research, and we have an idea of something that might help you relax." Suddenly, Anethea's blank stare was slightly more intent on the scientist. He chuckled. "Mind, it might now work. I could explain to you the reasons and process of thinking, but I don't want your brain to melt out of your ears right now."

With a gesture from his friend, Stark moved to Anethea's other side and picked her up effortlessly while Dr. Banner moved to grab supplies. Then together they trekked to the room they had acquiesced from Fury when they explained their plan. It wasn't far, at least to Anethea's shaky sense of time. When they got there, the only thing that registered was the sound of a water-tap running at full power. Then, strangely enough, sea salt invaded her senses.

She still had her clothes on when Stark lowered her into the warm, scented water of the bathtub. Immediately, the aching-pulling-stretching feeling in her chest started to relax and loosen. Anethea could breathe again.

And in between one wonderfully-deep breath and the next, the teenager was fast asleep.

\- - -

Anethea woke up groggy and disoriented. She didn't recognize the room and- she was inside a bathtub? Had she been kidnapped and had her kidneys stolen? Luckily, it was too early for Anethea to get into a full-blown panic at the imagined scenario. Slowly, things started coming back to her: the sleep deprivation, Stark and Banner, a warm saltwater bath and then blissful darkness.

Just in case, she checked to make sure nothing hurt or was apparently missing. Everything was intact. She was even wearing the same outfit she had put on the day before. Satisfied that everything was okay, she mentally moved on.

There was a clock in the room that read 3:16AM in big green numbers. Anethea was ecstatic. She quickly shed her clothes, refreshed the water and added two more handfuls of the sea salt she found on the vanity. With a content sigh, Anethea went back to a well deserved rest.

(Right before she fell asleep, she wondered: Who the hell is Agent Cormack and what the hell is a superior officer?)

\- - -

"You realize it's sheer dumb luck that you didn't drown in that bathtub last night."

Agent Hill was standing in front of a wet, ruffled Anethea in their debriefing room. The teenager was sitting hunched over in the same chair she occupied two weeks ago. Hill was not happy.

"First, you wrote absolutely nothing on the log I told you to write in daily. How were we supposed to track your progress if we didn't have any data?"

She wasn't yelling. Her face wasn't flushed or screwed up in rage. But she was definitely angry.

"Then I hear that you tried jumping out of the Helicarrier in the middle of takeoff."

Maybe it was the way her arms were crossed or her back was straighter than usual. Or the way her fingers were tapping out a staccato rhythm against her arm.

"And when I go retrieve you to debrief you on our findings, I find you asleep inside a bathtub."

Perhaps it wasn't anger. Could be disappointment? But you had to expect something to be disappointed.

Anethea focused back on the agent in front of her when Hill pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. "Look," Hill caught her eyes, "I know you're frustrated with us for taking two weeks to get back to you. I apologize for making you wait without any news. But everyone was under strict orders not to leak any information for your safety, understand?"

The young woman narrowed her eyes, trying to see any hint of deception, but nodded anyway. Anethea knew that she'd never know if she was lied to, but that even if it was only a half-truth, it didn't matter now.

Hill placed placed a thick folder on the table next to them, but made no move pass it over.

"You weren't created," she stated plainly. "Not like the Hulk was. There was no extraneous event that resulted in your powers." Hill leaned back, but Anethea didn't reach for the folder. "What we found is all coded into your DNA. You know that your ancestors came from Spain and France, correct?"

Anethea shrugged in acknowledgment.

The agent smiled. "You, Anethea, are a product of pure luck. Long ago, two men married or at least had sex with a siren, a creature we had previously thought mythological. They had children, who had children, who eventually had you. But the gene by itself is apparently recessive, because it isn't until both lineages merged that a child can unlocked the full potential of their ancestry. Its only by chance that your both your parents had the siren recessive gene."

Anethea was completely awestruck. That kind of thing only happened in movies or fiction. Wow.

Hill took out a set of files from inside the folder. "Here is some preliminary information we could get about sirens, but I figured it would be more productive if you conducted your own research."

Taking the file, Anethea quickly glanced through it. It seemed like pretty basic stuff: what a siren was, their appearances in myth, differences from mermaids. Now she was really itching to get to a computer and research all of this.

The sound of a clearing throat caught her attention. "Even from the bit of research we did, I need to inform you that we will have to conduct experiments with you to derive truth from fiction, so be ready for that."

Anethea didn't really like the sense of foreboding that came with that statement, but there was honestly nothing for her to do about it. Once again she nodded to show that she understood. With another smile, Agent Hill bid her goodbye and she stood and left the room.

Now all that was left to do is figure out exactly what being a siren-descendant meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want more info for x-reason, you can go [here](http://www.leagueverse.tumblr.com).
> 
> My tumblr is this [one](http://www.macapan.tumblr.com).
> 
> [Crossposted](http://leagueverse.tumblr.com/post/65991062751/) from tumblr.


End file.
